Black Latinos' identity: black, Latino, or both?

On reading various articles and first-hand accounts, watching some relevant videos on YouTube, and otherwise investigating the topic, I’ve learned that black Latinos have as much and in fact probably greater problems in being accepted as do African Americans.  

According to people of African descent who come from Panama, Peru, Columbia and other countries of central and South America, in their native land they are not considered Latino, and are not felt to truly be a part of their homeland’s culture.  In the United States, they are asked to choose between being black and being Latino.

Jesús López dancing in the hatajo de negritos.  Photo:  Lidia López

In our documentary, A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz, I note that Afro-Peruvians have their own culture just as Peruvians from indigenous communities have theirs.  But although Peruvians from indigenous communities certainly have been discriminated against and marginalized in ways similar to the treatment accorded Afro-Peruvians, indigenous peoples are considered “Peruvian.”  Afro-Peruvians have sometimes had a problem convincing others that they, too, and “Peruvian.”

I want to distinguish here between the past and the present.  The current government in Peru is notable for its interest in providing equality to all Peruvians, and not only accepting but also celebrating the various different ethnic groups and their unique history, culture and contributions.  But this new government has only been in office for a very few years, and so there is still much left to be done before all Peruvians will receive equality of treatment and have equal opportunities.

And in many Latin American countries, the government is not so enlightened.  Furthermore, the ordinary man – or woman – in the street is often even less enlightened.  For many Latinos, skin color is considered pretty important, and the lighter the skin, the more acceptable the person.  This view is even held by many Latinos of African descent.

This kind of marginalization and lack of acceptance is something that many African Americans can relate to.  This is only one of the important parallels between black Latinos (including Afro-Peruvians) and African Americans.

OUR NEXT POST will be about the National Museum of Afro-Peruvian Culture in Lima, Peru.

A Menina dos olhos grandes/Girl with Big Eyes, final film from Black International Cinema, Berlin

A Menina dos olhos grandes/Girl with Big Eyes is the last film I'd like to mention that I saw in the Black International Cinema in Berlin.  Directed by Alexis Tsafas and Fonseca Soares, it's a feature length drama about a young girl of mixed parentage (Spanish mother, Cape Verdian father) who was born and spent her early years in Cape Verde, but then went to Spain for her schooling and only returned to Cape Verde as a young woman.

I was not able to contact either of the directors of this film, so have no photos to present.  But I can say that it is charming and complex.

The young woman, who left for Spain to live with her mother's family after her mother died, believes that the Cape Verdian woman who replaced her mother in her father's life, is a bad person who stole her father away and has too much influence on him.  Not an unusual thought for a young girl, especially one who has recently lost her mother.

Our heroine also believes the "new" woman is practicing witch-craft.

And, well, she is.  Witch-craft, in this context meaning something akin to voodoo, is an accepted practice in Cape Verde.

When our young woman returns, she finds her father dead and the "new" woman dying.  She learns, through talking to those who knew her father, that things can be very tough in Cape Verde.  For example, the "new" woman comes from an impoverished family.  Her relationship with the father is one of the ways she keeps herself AND her own mother and sister from starving.

Our young woman also learns that her leaving Cape Verde had a devastating effect on her father.

The movie ends with our young woman sadder but wiser.  The story is told in a convincing manner, the acting is fine, and the setting is appropriate.

But I found several flaws in the film.  The main one has to do with its reliance on flashbacks.  And the problem here is that it was not always clear to me what time period we were in.  This was especially true when we saw our heroine as a teenager and realized it was the same actress as our heroine as a young woman.  Using the same actress in scenes supposedly years apart made the context very confusing.

On the whole, however, I really enjoyed this and found that the story touching.  Three cheers to the filmmakers.

NOTE:  For those of you who, like me, aren't sure where Cape Verde is, it's two small islands off the coast of West Africa.  The principal languages are Portuguese (for years it was a Portuguese colony but is now independent) and Crioulo.  Most of the inhabitants are black.

OUR NEXT POST will be about black Latinos' identity:  black, or Latino, or both?

NEXT TO LAST FILMS from the Black International Cinema, Berlin

In addition to Dar He and Africa:  the Beat, there are three other films that I saw at the Black International Cinema festival in Berlin that bear special mention.  These are Askoo, a short film from Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Ali Hashemzehi:  Shahde Sang/the Nectar of Stones, another short from Iranian filmmaker Sattar Chamani Gol:  and A Manina Dos Ojhos Grandes/Girl with Big Eyes, a feature-length dramatic narrative by Cape Verdian filmmaker Alexis Tsafas.

Askoo is a 25 minute short fim that has been in several documentary film festivals.  It was shot in Baluchi with English subtitles.

It is about a man and his camel.  The man in question is a camel dealer.  Apart from his herd, he has one camel that is both his mount and companion, and that is Askoo.   

His relationship with Askoo is somewhat like what, in other parts of the world, you’d expect to develop with your dog, or perhaps more appropriately, with your horse in the days when horses were a primary means of travel.  Because the camel dealer spends most of his time alone in semi-arid regions with his camels, his relationship with Askoo is very important to him.

At work on "Askoo."  Filmmaker Mohammad Ali Hashemzehi is on the right.

And there is history involved in this relationship. As the film develops, we learn that there has been a major conflict between our camel dealer and Askoo.  At the very end, in an off-hand way, we are finally led to understand the reason for this conflict.

The movie is charming.  There is the interesting, “exotic,” side of seeing what life is like for a camel dealer in the backlands of Iran, but the hints dropped about the conflict are what really draw us in.  My one major criticism of the film is that there was something important lost in the translation.  (What in the world is “brambles?”)  As a parting note, Askoo the camel certainly has big, beautiful eyes.

A scene from "Ashkoo."

The second film, Shahde Sang/the Nectar of Stones, is also by an Iranian filmmaker.  It´s in Kurdishm, with English subtitles.

This 25 minute short film takes us up a steep, rocky, barren mountain with three men set on getting something that is, we are led to understand, still available on the cliff face.  It is a long journey they make, and at the end of it, one of them (who is doing this “for the last time”) must be hoisted up to the middle of the cliff face by the two others.   

Plenty of drama here:  will the two tire and let their friend drop down to certain death?  Will the bees (yes, halfway up the cliff’s face, he encounters a bee’s nest) sting him so badly that he lets go of the rope?  Will this, his last journey, end in his death or in his getting what they came after?

Askoo the camel with the films´lead, the very personable camel dealer seen from the back.

We only learn more than halfway through the film, and much of the way through the dramatic cliff-hanging part, what they are after:  honey, made by bees that have their nest… in a hole halfway up the cliff.  To cut to the quick, yes, he gets the honey without dying.  His companions lower him back down to safety, and the three of them…consume all the honey that they just spent most of the day getting, at the risk of the life of one of them.

It is quite humorous in sections, happily, by intention.  Would I ever go through all that for a feast of honey?  No way.  And in places, the drama was a little forced.  But:  did I enjoy the film?  Absolutely.

Note that I was unable to contact Sattar Chamani Gol, the filmmaker responsible for this film, and so don´t have any photos related to him/her or the movie Shahde Sang/the Nectar of Stones.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about a film from Cape Verde.  This will be the last film we´ll cover from the Black International Cinema, Berlin.